yea yea yea

Beleaguered with my lack of blogging recently, I have been driven to that state of mind…Much like when you forget a friend’s birthday and you want to make up by getting them a really good present, but the longer you leave it because nothing is quite right you have left it so long that it’s just embarrassing either way, and you should just have got that first thing you thought of….yea, so that’s this post.

So instead of making it up to you with something amazing, you are getting me. Wearing clothes. They aren’t even exciting clothes, if the truth be told. BUT, I am nothing if not honest, and this is basically me. I am working a lot, and I have also realised that I brought two giant suitcases with me to London, and have somehow managed to end up with no clothes to wear. Seriously, my new wardrobe is the size of a school locker, and it’s still not even full. This isn’t hyperbole. I am the worst packer in history. I watched a little video the other night by Diane Von Furstenberg about how if you can pack properly, you have your life in order (thank you Racked.com). I clearly do not.

Shirt, Jumper, Jeans, Socks: American Apparel, Shoes: Primark

So. Recently I told you about my quest for the perfect parka. I showed you a picture of a parka that I was thinking of buying. I did buy it. The website lied to me. It is MASSIVE. Medium my bum. But it is basically a duvet, and this makes me happy, because I dislike being cold. So while I look like a green Yeti in the thing, I am a very content, not-cold-at-all Yeti. The very best kind of Yeti.

Yeti coat: Army Surplus Store

That should really be the end of the story. But I have a small and well documented coat problem. So when I came across an immaculate wax jacket for £10 in a charity shop around the corner from work, it was in a bag on my arm before I knew what was going on. So now I sort of own the same coat twice. Oops. But look it’s fine, OK, because one is massive and for keeping warm, and the other is more fitted and for keeping dry. OK?

Deadly wax jacket: Charity shop round the corner

I possibly need to form a help group or charity organisation of some form – the Jane Alexandra Centre for Girls Who Can’t Stop Buying Outerwear…

 

Forevz and evz

On Thursday I popped in to the Forever 21 press morning for a little gander at their Autumn Winter offering. As per usual they had a lovely warm welcome ready for everyone, alongside the finest pieces of the forthcoming season. Stores like Forever 21 really need to tick all the boxes in terms of trends and directions, given that their target market is pretty huge and has such broad tastes, and this season was no exception. So like other high street retailers, they had their overall collection divided thematically, with ’70′s, vintage, preppy and mod being main themes F21 picked up on and developed into stories.

As it was really really busy full of the best and brightest of the Dublin fashion scene, I sort of spent half my time looking at the clothes on the rails and half the time looking at the clothes on the people there. I also managed to remember to bring my camera to a press event for the first time (win!) so I snapped a bit of both.  Interestingly, I noted that the way the crowd were dressed reflected the themes on the hangars. Not bad considering those in attendance were some of the most sartorially savvy fashion heads in Dublin.

Of course I forgot to snap all the things I liked, so you will have to trust me when I say that I really can’t wait to get my hands on the cut out denim shirt.

I liked how they had live mannequins interacting with people, the whole morning had the feeling of a salon, which is no mean feat for a mass mass retailer! The clothes themselves stood up to close scrutiny, not only on the hangers but also on the models walking around, looking great. One of the stylists didn’t realise they were models and was struck by how amazingly dressed, and tall, everyone was!

As a very generous thank you for coming along, the folks at Forever 21 gave us a bag to nab an accessory goody. I am, however, far too much of a goody two shoes, and only took one. So I shall be keeping it for myself – next time I promise I will get something to giveaway to you guys, promise!! But in fairness, with my penchant for rings, do you REALLY think I would give this baby away? It’s amaaaaaazing. I die!

dodgy iphone pic. i was so excited i tweeted straight away....

Forever 21 really have their accessories down. Every time I am in the stores or at an event like this, I find myself picking up things almost before I realise it, which is always a good thing. And you know the old saying, when in doubt, lash on a load of jewellery! No?

And to end off, a few sneaky pics of some of the other lovely bloggers I bumped into on Thursday morning. Good to see you girlies! x

Is it vintage yet?!

Back when I was making fat wads o’ cash I did a most peculiar thing – I decided to invest some of it in something…Clearly, it was not going to be something boring like stocks or bonds (in hindsight, probably just as well!), but instead in fashion. My logic ran something like this – that I probably wouldn’t have as much disposable income in the future (how right I was) so I should probably get a few designer pieces to have and mature with. So I duly went out and bought some designer shit. It’s not actually the worst logic I have ever come up with. It was nothing too extravagant – the stacks weren’t that fat, but given that the Tiger died c.2008, what I do own is in that designer limbo – where they are not yet vintage, but too far around the fashion cycle to be current either.

For the most part I don’t think about it. Sometimes though I worry I made bad investments that will never be cool again, which makes me worry about why I am not worrying about more important things in life… The other day though, I was cleaning out a bunch of stuff and I found this tshirt. I know Dior is kind of a bit of a persona non grata at the moment, but I still like the shirt. It’s fun! and I don’t own that many fun things. It’s pink! and I don’t own many pink things. It has a funny fashion take on sports tshirts, and I love the tongue-in-cheek-ness of it all. And for sure, logomania has long past, and I know that Carrie Bradshaw wore one in a SATC film and I HATE her stupid moany self involved character, but Patricia Fields is an amazing stylist so she had a point. And I know it’s not very now, but I just like it, ok.

skirt; thrifted, shoes; primark, tshirt; dior, bow; vintage

 I don’t know why but I always feel a bit like a school teacher when I wear this skirt…

Pressure’s for tyres

I have been very remiss about blogging the last little while. However, the reason for this is because I was working my ass off in the real world. It seems to have worked, too (to no noone’s greater surprise than my own!). The reward for my work is a spot for my collection in the fashion show in college, I am too excited about this. In a stress vomit, oh dear god how the hell am i going to do all this work, sort of a way. But I was thinking…what am I going to wear?? I always totally judge designers when they pop their heads out. Too much is, well, too much (Donatella, I am looking at you), but too little is almost worse. Like, you MAKE CLOTHES. As evidenced by the collection that just went down that runway. And I get that backstage is stressful. But have a dress or something to throw on once the first model starts walking maybe. No? I’m just saying.

Anyway, this is what I wore the other day, in my normal, non catwalk life. I love the shirt, even if there is a giant ink stain on it…I guess this look is sort of like goth lite…I remember when I was a teenager I tried to be a goth for about a week, but I realised that I was far too happy to pull it off, all the other goths saw through me, ha!

Dress H&M, Shirt Vintage, Boots Topshop, Necklace Swarovski cross on ribbon

Happy Monday!

Lonely Child

Some days I wish I had a sister so I could annoy her into doing shoots with me. Or a flatemate or something. As it stands, if I want to play around with taking photos and stuff, I have to do it myself. I guess that’s fine tho, right?! Cindy Sherman‘s work is mostly self-portraits, and she’s really cool. [note: I do not think i am anywhere near as deadly as Cindy Sherman. She's unreal] Here’s what I wore the other day. It’s nice and comfy, with a bit of lace, and a ridiculous bow for good measure. I finally submitted my thesis, so it was time to get krunk. Although drinking for the first time after a month of working like a bitch on college work = SORE head next day!

Shirt & Skirt, H&M, Bow, Vintage, Shoes, KG by Kurt Geiger

And I suppose if I had sisters they would take my clothes…

I need to stop thinking about an impossible eventuality.

 

So I’m back to the velvet underground

Stevie Nicks. I love her. She seems like a total nutjob, but that makes her even better?? I mention this (again, I’ve already paid homage to her on this blog) because I recently saw this skirt in Oxfam. And it’s nuts. But I had to have it. It’s actually properly revolting, in a victorian governess kind of way. But it’s VELVET. And it has FRINGING. And it’s a really nice blue. Velvet. With Fringing. Mine.

So, I now own probably the ugliest skirt in the world. I’ve no idea when it was made, the tag is really old looking, and it’s really good quality, so I’m guessing it’s been around for a while. Seriously though, why did I buy a skirt that positively roars “SCARY SPINSTER LADY” to the outside world? To me, it’s all Fleetwood Mac and gypsy chic, but really, it’s a crazy lady skirt. Fuck it tho, it’s unreal.

So what did we learn today? Team ugly skirts with slightly slutty tops, and stick a scarf in your hair to turn Victorian Governess into Gypsy Chic. ish. Ha! 

This thesis might destroy me…

Here’s what I wore the other day to college. It’s not big, or clever, but it IS warm and I finally reheeled my favourite boots, so I’m happy to be wearing them again. Eh, yea. The other day, I looked like this?

Y

Stick on Your Sunday Best

Yesterday I went over to my friend Julie’s for tea. This is what I wore.

Dress: Second hand, NYC, Turban: Forever 21, Boots: Steve Madden, Jacket: Found in the back of my wardrobe from my horse-riding days, Scarf: Urban Outfitters

I decided that rather than throw on a Sunday uniform of baggy jersey and general slobbiness, I would just put on a dress instead. It didn’t take me any longer to get ready (dress + tights takes no time at all), so while I was hardly dressing up, the end result was definitely smarter than had I chosen the former. Instead of my normal slouchy beanie, I threw on my turban. I bought it last February, but I find excuses not to wear it. I saw My Third Cousin‘s post the other day and it spurred me on to bring it out from the back of my wardrobe.

The dress is also something I find excuses not to wear. I bought it on the same trip in February, and it’s very seventies and mid length and peachy silk and quite smart. It’s beautiful, but it’s not something I would normally wear. I basically just need to embrace the smart thing or find a way to grunge it up a bit…Anyway, I felt like wearing something a bit different today, so it was perfect.

So, my point? That there’s no harm in putting on your Sunday best on Sunday. I know I have a tendency to dress sloppily unless I have somewhere to go, but it takes the same amount of time to put on nice clothes as it does to put on the baggy ones. And on a really nerdy point, dressing nice shows that you have respect for the people around you and the place you are going to (Sunday best to church and all that). And on a not so nerdy point, doing a casual thing in clothes that I’m not so used to wearing let me ease into them a bit more, so now I’m less likely to find excuses not to wear them in real life. All round win.

Thanks to Julie for the cuppa and the pics. She started her own blog the other day, you should check it out, she has a good eye for lovely things.

i’v got’s no(w) style

I genuinely thought Karl Lagerfeld was taking the mickey when I saw these last february….

 

It has now been snowing for so long that I am beginning to think the man may have had a point…I suppose I feel like I should do a post and properly address the snow thing. Maybe if we acknowledge it, it will leave….As much as possible I’ve been hiding inside with the heating up as high as it will go (I think I’m part lizard, my blood freezes when I get cold and I can’t move). Otherwise, I found an awesome sheepskin coat that was my nanasin a wardrobe in my house  (actually this is a lie, I’ve know about it all the time, I was just looking for an excuse to wear it) that I have been using since the snow started. It’s ENORMOUS! Both in length, because it’s a coat, not a jacket, or a long jacket or a short coat. It’s a motherfucking coat. It’s also huge, which is weird coz my nana wasn’t fat…maybe she was pimping the oversize look way back when. It’s also about three inches thick of sturrrdy suede and tight shearling lining. Haha, I got roped into the shearling trend after all. Stupid snow making a fashion victim out of me! Ha. Actually I think the coat is from the ’70′s (or at least it looks it, perhaps late ’60′s), so I’m ticking all kinds of fashion boxes. Which is really funny because it is covering a world of sartorial sins – layers & layers of warmest clothes (shape, colour, who cares!). Also, this weather has got me wearing my old horse riding boots. They are Aigle, and they are sturdy as anything, and just as good as wellies, but they are not wellies, which i like enormously. I have been sort of wanting a pair of leather riding-style boots to wear in real life, maybe I should have been careful what I wished for…AAAnnnnyyway. It’s snowing. And that sucks. But I’m warm. And I still don’t like those Chanel Yeti suits. I don’t care how toasty they look or how hot the models are. It’s just wrong. Soz Karl, you know you’re my fav. But seriously like. xx

This is me, after shoveling snow off & out of the way of my mum’s car for an hour this morning in my snow uniform!

Hasbags

I have an amazing bag sitting in the back of my wardrobe. I never use it. I am leaving it there, waiting. It is a former It Bag, past its glory days of fashion caché, and yet some years too young to be a vintage classic. I sometimes feel sorry for it, the poor has-been.

I sort of feel sorry for all the has-been bags…

the stam’s,

(image: purseblog.com)

the kelly’s,

(image: fashion-stylist.net)

the baguettes,

(image: pursepective.blogspot.com)

and the paddingtons.

(image: thefashionpolice.net)

The Lady Dior has had a bit of a resergence and the Balenciaga lariat has never really gone out of style since it launched (I still want one).

(images: purspage.com, coolspotter.com)

I also still want a mulberry, but not the alexa cheung one (i know, blasphemy) – but the original beautiful one, the roxanne.

(image: thefashionpolice.net)

In the eternal quest for the new and the now, we discard the just-was. Well, until it has sat in the back of our wardrobes for long enough that it is fresh and exciting again. Which, in general fashion cycle terms, is between ten and twenty years. Oh, and if you havnt already, start hoarding anything early-to-mid 90′s now. The twenty year anniversary is upon us, and is starting to hit runways again. So by that maths, my saddle bag will be making its next outing in…2016, ish…